SOLARFEST 2011 - Saturday 18th June 2011

*** UPDATE 21ST MAY 2011 ***

Speakers added:

* John Flannery (SDAS)

* Steve Roche (Deise)

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Following on from the success over the last 2 years, IFAS in conjunction with Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) www.dias.ie are organising a one-day event in Dublin to celebrate solar astronomy. Solarfest 2011 will take place on Saturday 18th June 2011 at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin. We are very grateful to DIAS for supporting the event and entry is FREE.

The programme for the event is current being finalised and will be updated here in due course.

Weather permitting, we will have solar observing also. A tour of the facility will also take place for those who haven't seen the observatory and the 12" Grubb refractor.

Spaces are limited to 60 seats.
Applications for tickets must be sent to ifas.solarfest@gmail.com by June 5th.
Tickets are on a first come first served basis.
Please state in the e-mail how many tickets you would like.
After this date, seats will be opened up to members of the public.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to ask.

Regards & Thanks,

Michael O'Connell

looking forward to it. thanks to the people at DIAS it always has been interesting. good to see that it is back again this year.

Pencilled in to the diary, should be able to show my handsome mug there on the day.

Seanie.

*** UPDATE 21ST MAY 2011 ***

Speakers added:

* John Flannery (SDAS)

* Steve Roche (Deise)

About 1/3 of the seats are gone already.
E-mails will be replied to in one batch when the tickets are issued.

If you are interested in attending, please drop an e-mail to ifas.solarfest@gmail.com
Spaces are limited to 60 seats.
Applications for tickets must be sent by June 5th.
Tickets are on a first come first served basis.
Please state in the e-mail how many tickets you would like.
After this date, seats will be opened up to members of the public.

Regards & Thanks,

Michael.

*** Update 30th May 2011 ***

John Flannery (SDAS): "The Story of Sunspots"
John Flannery hails from Dromineer in Co. Tipperary. His main interests in astronomy are sky folklore, all aspects of astronomy with the unaided eye, and the more unusual nooks and crannies of astronomical history. He is currently Chairperson of the South Dublin Astronomical Society.
“The story of sunspots”: Astronomers puzzled over the nature of sunspots for centuries. Were they worlds orbiting extremely close to the Sun or blemishes on the solar disk? The latter idea was heretical for some time. In this talk we learn how astronomers deciphered the solar cycle, how they engaged on a wild goose chase for an intra-Mercurial planet, and how we came to understand Sun-Earth interactions.


Dr. Ian Elliott: "Solar Activity and our Climate"
Ian Elliott is a solar physicist and was formerly Assistant Professor of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies at Dunsink Observatory. He was on the research staff of Sacramento Peak Observatory, New Mexico, USA for several years. He has long had an interest in the influence of the Sun on the Earth’s climate and his talk will focus on the possibility of a succession of cold winters. He has written extensively on the history of astronomy in Ireland.

Steve Roche (Deise): "Solar Imaging - A Back Garden Approach!!"
Based in Waterford, Steve's interest in astronomy began in his early years. He was facinated by the first images from the Viking Probes on Mars, when they were first broadcast on TV. Unfortunately due to demanding work commitments and studies, his interest in the hobby had to stay on the backburner until recently, when he first started looking at the night sky with a budget Soligor 3.7 inch refractor. Since then he has ventured into the world of astrophotography using a modified Canon 350D with my main imaging scope being a Williams Optics Megrez 90 piggybacked on a Celestron CGE C11. His image of IC1805 (The Heart Nebula) was the Sky at Night magazine, "Image of the Month", for February 2010. Having been inspired by the great solar images being produced by Dave Gradwell, and solar sketches by Deirdre Kelligan, Steve acquired an interest in imaging the sun during (more "socially acceptable") daylight hours . Starting off using "White Light" filters on his existing equipment, he finally took the plunge to invest in a dedicated H-Alpha Solar Scope. He currently usees this in conjuction with a DMK Camera for imaging our closest star. Steve mostly images from his back garden, based in suburban Waterford.

Trinity College Dublin will also be providing speakers at the event - details TBC shortly.

Seats are filling up.
To book yours, please drop an e-mail to ifas.solarfest@gmail.com
Spaces are limited to 60 seats.
Tickets are on a first come first served basis and are FREE.
Please state in the e-mail how many tickets you would like.
Any remaining seats after June 5th will be opened up to members of the public.

Regards & Thanks,

Michael.

We've created a Facebook page for the event which can be viewed here: www.facebook.com/pages/Solarfest/223930147635707